Is there a better feeling in FM than...

scouting a 16 year old regen that has slipped off the radar of the major clubs and developing his potential to become a good/top player for your team?

Found this guy playing in Qatar and was able to bring him to my struggling German Second Division 1860 Munich side. He's developed really well in my opinion (and helped with promotion to the Bundesliga) and underlines my point that this really is the best part of the game for me. I've seen some threads saying that it gets boring when the real players disappear but I really enjoy it when hard work scouting pays off (trawling through all those lists of players from obscure countries).

Agreed OP, finding a youth player who goes on to be incredible is an awesome feeling. The longer they play and improve, the better it gets.

Gorka Valencia was my big youth find on FM10. An attacking central midfielder, he more or less dominated my team. His finest game came in my first CL final - he'd been injured, so started the game on the bench. An hour gone, 1-0 down, I subbed him on. He proceeded to score a 25 yard screamer, then set up our second with a pinpoint pass to turn the game on its head

I've not really had 'that' player on FM11 yet.

Hi guys,

I can't just quit my save and move onto the current year's FM version so I am still on FM2009 - one and only save (lots of rolling save points though...)

The thing is I play as Adelaide United with a salary cap of 18.8K/week exluding topearner so I can't keep really good players and I only ever jaga a few greats.

I totally agree that getting a great young player is one of the best parts but I have just had a rare moment... the game date is June 2019 so ten seasons in and The club has just announced that it's building a new stadium... named after me

If you get the best really young players from your country, play the best of them from a young age and have good coaches you can generate your own pretty good players too.

Yes, there is a better feeling.

Finding a 14 year old Brazilian AMC/ST, paying £7m to sign him, wait 4 years before he can join the club, send him to Croatia for 2 more years to gain a work permit, then have him arrive back at the club as a 20 year old who now looks like the next Ronaldo (the old one). Play him as back-up to first choice striker for a season and a half, before he eventually takes over and becomes first choice. Scored 6 goals in a match last season, and has scored over 40 goals in each of the last 2, only not reaching 50 because of injury. Won World Player of the Year. Started this season with hatttricks in first 2 leagues games. He is now 25, worth £33m and probably the best striker in the world right now and for the next 5 years.

I love it when a long-term investment pays off.

i found a youngish German playing in the second division but ripping it apart, he has been round a few clubs before and never really got a game but had this one fantastic season in germany, he cost me £150k, scored 35 league goals from midfield in 5 seasons and was sold to Chelsea last season for £12m, good bit of business id say

I found a 17 year old regen for Southampton who Arsenal and Man utd had had bids accepted, I matched the £7m bid, signed him and 4 years later his contract expired having failed to make a single first team experience and is still looking for a club

however, I did pay just £3m for England's best defensive midfielder, currently 4 stars at age 21

I once discovered a 16 year old playing for Galway United. His stats looked ok for a 16 year old. Signed him for Barca. After a season in the youth team I saw he was performing well and his stats had jumped a fair bit. By the age of 21 he had won World Striker of the Year.

I've found a few gems over the years. That one, above, was in FM08 I think? Anyway, I still remember it well.

I've found a lot of quality youngsters in my time at Manchester United, but the best 3 I found were from San Lorenzo, Getafe and Leicester. Federico Bermejo, an Argentine striker bought for about £4 million from San Lorenzo. At just 18 years of age, he stormed through pre-season and must have scored a goal per game against the likes of Arsenal. He had made his debut for Argentina by 19. Ramiro Otero, bought for about £3 million from Getafe, went on to score a hat-trick against his former club and a lot of other goals whenever he played. Enrico Fiorucci, dual nationality, English and Italian, bought from Leicester for £2 million, pretty regularly in the first team, with a lot of assists. Just goes to show how well scouting pays off!

I love playing the lower leagues in England and going through all the youth released by EPL clubs at the end of each season. Have had quite a few instances where I've grabbed them at 17/18 and by the time I become a Prem club, they are of that standard too.

Found a (then) 24 year old Senegalese striker while scouting the U20 World Cup. He was playing with Al-Alhy at the time and no clubs were sniffing for his services. I got him for around USD$8.5 million and he's now one of my key players at the club. Sega N'Diaye

I signed a player for 600k from a team in the Ivory Coast he was 16 years old and I had to wait 2 years until he could sign him. When he arrived he got into my first team and 4 seasons later I sold him for £100 million to Barcelona.